Among the many winter sports in vogue today, one of the more popular is snowmobiling. The popularity of this sport has given rise to a rapidly expanding industry. Conventional snowmobiles usually comprise a pair of skis attached to the front of the vehicle and a drive belt proximate the rear portion of the vehicle for providing motive power. The skis conventionally used are approximately three to four inches in width and may be of a wood or sheet metal construction.
Unfortunately, the skis presently manufactured and used, for today's snowmobiling are not without certain problems. One problem encountered by the use of the narrow skis of present-day design is that they tend to sink and bog down in soft, deep snow areas or in slush and icy areas, such as rivers or lakes.
Another problem, particularly evident with wooden skis, is that they tend to "stick" or freeze in the snow when left standing for a period of time. The moisture content of wood skis will tend to freeze, causing the snow-contacting surface of the ski to freeze and stick to the snow when left standing for a period of time. In addition to a reduced capability to even traverse slushy or deep snow areas, snowmobiles equipped with the conventional narrow skis suffer a limitation on maneuverability, which can be hazardous. Additionally, the frozen moisture content of wood skis causes the grain of the wood to swell, ice formations to appear on the surfaces, and cracks to occur, which produces a roughened snow-contacting surface that increases the "drag" of the ski as it slides over the terrain.
Similarly, the low thermal insulation qualities of the snow-contacting surfaces of metal skis cause them to also show a marked tendency to stick or freeze in the snow. Thus, it can be seen that there is presently a need for a snowmobile ski that may be used in slushy or deep snow areas and does not suffer the problems pointed out above.